Old HMC release

I have recently been placed in charge of a cluster of LPARs. The first
problem I have is I don't have the root password for the HMC console so
I am limited in what I can do with the current cluster configuration.
To get the root password back I was going to download a copy of the HMC
software from IBM and boot off this media to recover the root password.
This leads me to my second problem, the current version of HMC loaded on
the console is very very old, Release 3 Version 2.4 Build 20030919.1.
This version if no longer supported by IBM and I can't find a download
image anywhere. The group that is using these LPARs would like to
continue using the currently configured systems but I have no way of
administering them so I am concerned when the first problem comes down I
will not be able to resolve the problem. Ultimately I would like to get
up to current HMC release (version 7 release 3.2.0) but I am not sure
where to proceed from here? Is there an upgrade path? If I do a fresh
install of the current release is there a way to recover the currently
configured LPARs?

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If you are upgrading, you will need to go through the different versions of the HMC software to reach version 7. The other alternative is to perform a fresh install of version 7, but be sure you record all information on the current HMC so that you can add it back later on - I do not trust the backups it creates since I had issues with it.
If you need the root password to the HMC console itself, you can get that from IBM provided you have support on your hardware.
If you need the userid admin password of the Managed System themselves, you will need IBM Support to override it. If you the userid HMC password to the Managed System, you will need IBM Support to override it or the password to th euserid admin account.

With release 3.2.4, your probably running power 4 aix systems and your hmc
will not be able to support your systems at version 7. Version 7 HMC is
eithernet based communication to the service processors. The power 4
systems use a serial based connection to the systems. The latest level
available for power 4 servers is 3.3.7.
HMC code is fairly secured by IBM and doesn't allow root access very
easily. The user id used on an HMC is hscroot. If your having password
issues IBM may be able to log in as a hidden user that might be able to
change the hscroot password. Just for grins, try the default user id
"hscroot" and password "abc123". If you have to reload the system, all the
lpar information is stored on the service processor and the HMC, so if you
loose one, you will not loose you lpar configuration, however you will loose
all the configuration on the HMC. You will have to setup any call home
features being used and all the network information.

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